NetEase Cloud Music named No.1 platform in China for Japanese music

NetEase Cloud Music, a leading interactive music streaming service provider in China, has been rated as China's platform of choice for fans of Japanese music, according to a recent report published by "Small Antlers Think Tank," a third-party Chinese research institution in music industry. The report, which polls approximately 100,000 respondents in China, also identifies the primary drivers of NetEase Cloud Music's popularity: The platform's proven copyright management capabilities, strong social community, and differentiated functions, such as personalized recommendations.

Proven Copyright Management Capabilities 

Over the past few years, NetEase Cloud Music has expanded its library to include various Japanese music content, including Japanese animation, game, J-pop and classical music. Small Antlers' report highlights RADWIMPS as an example. In 2019, the popular Japanese band released its digital album "Weathering with You (complete version)" on NetEase Cloud Music, and sold more than 200,000 copies, setting a new record for the highest sales of a digital Japanese music album in China, said the report. Small Antlers also reports that by leveraging its capabilities of professional copyright management and consistent product innovation, NetEase Cloud Music has established itself as a trusted partner and first choice for well-known Japanese copyright holders. Entering 2020, NetEase Cloud Music has announced its copyright cooperation in Japan with Johnny & Associates, Studio Ghibli and BPMTokyo. The platform continues to enjoy great popularity among its users, with consistently high sales of Japanese artists' albums. Recent examples include the debut of Takuya Kimura's solo album "Go with the Flow," which sold more than 26,000 copies on the platform, surpassing the sum of sales on all other music streaming platforms in China. 

Strong Social Interaction

Through in-depth interviews, the report finds that 92% of Japanese music fans in China are more willing to listen to and share songs they love via music applications where they find it easier to resonate with other music fans. On NetEase Cloud Music, the "Comment" area has become one of the most popular functions for users to communicate and connect with others. The report concluded that 61% of NetEase Cloud Music's users read comments and around 25% of users write comments. One example cited was the song "Lemon" by Yonezu Kenshi, which has received more than 270,000 comments, with the most popular one garnering nearly 660,000 "likes" on the platform. In addition to the highly active "Comment" section, NetEase Cloud Music also launched "Cloud Village," which builds up diversified interest-based communities for users and encourages the creation of music blogs (Mlog) and other user-generated content (UGC).

Personalized Content Recommendations

The report mentions that personalized recommendations are the primary means for Japanese music fans in China to discover songs on music applications. NetEase Cloud Music has developed and refined its recommendation algorithm to help users easily find more songs through "Private FM" and daily recommendations.

Launched in April 2013, NetEase Cloud Music has grown into one of China's most widely recognized music platforms, and a gathering place for China's Japanese music lovers. As it continues to establish copyright collaborations with famous international labels and record companies globally, NetEase Cloud Music strives to facilitate exchanges and communication about music, between China and the world.